Lost Mine of Phandelver (Kolbitr DM)

"No lie, No lie!" The goblin begins rambling off a series of landmarks he apparently learned to follow to return to the castle from Conyberry, things like "follow deer trail to funny shaped rock and turn to look at ugly tree then walk until you can hear the creek and turn towards lumpy stump." You get the feeling that you would be better off bringing him with or getting him to indicate the location on your map. (I have been assuming that at least one of you guys would have a map of the area, Sildar would have supplied you with one if you did not already have one. Here is the map again for reference. )

Tibern will look at the map they had and then put it ba"( moving to pull the goblin up by the back of its scrawny neck. "Lothar keep this thing close and if it tries to run break its legs into splinters."

The goblin is horrified at the idea of having its legs broken into splinters, but has given up on struggling free for the time being.

So what would you guys like to do? The goblin indicates that Cragmaw Castle is somewhere to the west, he seems willing to do whatever you ask in the hope you wont kill him. It is about the middle of the afternoon at this point.

Tibern is willing to head towards the castle but is waiting to see what the rest of the party is in favor of.

"Let's head for the castle while we have a guide," Vandar says.

"Agreed, let's head for the castle."

Agreeing upon a course of action the party sets off into Neverwinter wood, following the directions of the captive goblin. You sense no deceit from the goblin, he seems to be too afraid of you to dare lead you astray. The party is deep into the forest when the sun finally sets. The darkness of night is nearly complete beneath the canopy of the forest leaving Lothar all but blind without a torch or lantern. 

Would you like to set camp or continue on through the night? The goblin says if you keep marching through the night you will likely be at the castle around dawn (but you will be suffering from exhaustion at that point.) If you camp here you expect to arrive at the castle around midday fully rested and ready for whatever you may find there. The goblin seems afraid of setting camp out in these woods, he quietly babbles about "the screaming elf spirit who will steal your soals and the monsters from the underneath who will eat your bones." He seems genuinely terrified and more concerned about the horrors of the forest at night than you, at least for the time being.

Tibern will move to set up his spot to sleep, letting his eyes glow as he looks over at the goblin. "The elf ghost.... Why she is a great friend of mine. As long as you do nothing foolish you should be able to live for a while longer...."

The goblins eyes widen at Tibern's claim of friendship with the elf ghost. He remains quiet and shows no sign of any ideas of escape.

The party sets up camp for the night and sets watches. Despite the constant sound of unnervingly close movement in the underbrush and the calls of many strange creatures heard in the forest at night this night passes uneventfully, but uncomfortably.

The party awakens as the first faint rays of sunlight begin to appear through the forest canopy above. Your goblin captive appears calmer now that the sun is up but he is still very afraid and did not sleep. The day is a fair one and your march through the forest goes quickly. The goblin cooperates with you and shows you the way without resistance. 

After some time the goblin stops you. "Follow trail that way, castle very near. You can see through trees, there." He points you down a game trail and you can in fact see what looks like an old castle. "You let me go now? That the deal, me show you way to castle, you no kill me, let me go. I go away and you not see me again, me find new goblin tribe far away."

Tibern nods and looks to the others to see if they are fine with letting the creature go, his hand slipping down to the dagger on his belt. If the party was ok with letting it go he would cut the goblin free, if not it could be used for something else.

Vandar nods.  "We said you could go free if you led us here.  Mind you, you'd better be going as fast as you can in the opposite direction of the castle.  If you think to sneak in there to warn them, we will not show mercy again."

"A deal is a deal goblin. Go in peace"

Freed of his bonds the goblin wastes no time and immediately runs as fast as he can directly back the way you came and disappears into the forest without so much as a glance back.

You move forward to the edge of the trees. In the middle of the clearing stands what remains of an old castle made up of a cluster of towers. The lower sections seem relatively intact but the upper floors have mostly crumbled. You are on the east side of the clearing and can see no entrance into the structure from here. Aways up the walls you can see arrow slots looking over the clearing between you and the castle.

Tibern watches as the goblin runs off into the woods, raising a brow before turning his attention back towards the castle. "If that creature is lying then we could be walking into a trap. We should be on guard and do our best not stray to far from each other."

Lothar agreed.  They were now venturing into very dangerous grounds. He led the way down the game trail to look at the castle and determine possible ways in, and also to look for any guards or patrols.

Happy new year everyone.

How would you like to proceed? The forest is thick enough to hide you and surrounds the castle. There is no cover in the clearing except possibly against the walls of the Castle itself. There is no entrance on this side of the castle.

Happy New Year all.

If the rest of the party moves with him, Tibern is going to move closer while trying to stay in cover as he searches for an entrance to the ruined castle.

Stealth: 14

Also to look for the entrance and since both are plus three this is Investigation or Perception: 9

You are on the east side of the castle. From here Tibern can see what looks like a foot trail coming from the southern edge of the clearing and going towards the south side of the castle. 

Vandar moves off the opposite direction of Tibern to help scout around the castle and look for the best way to approach.

Stealth: 14

Perception: 18